Best Values in Cruising

In its 2014 Cruise Trends survey, Cruise Holidays International asked its experts across the U.S. and Canada about their clients’ top reasons for booking a particular cruise. For the fourth consecutive year, cruise itinerary was the top consideration, followed by price.

Fortunately, cruising is always a terrific vacation value. Everything you need is included in the cruise fare (some optional items, such as spa treatments and shore excursions, are usually available at an extra cost). But, some cruise destinations provide even better-than-expected value; and, you may be surprised to know that these include some of the most popular regions for cruising.

In its survey, Cruise Holidays also asked its experts which regions they expect to present the best values during 2014. The top answer is one of the world’s most popular cruise destinations: the Caribbean.

The Caribbean actually has three distinctive areas for cruising: the diverse islands of the Eastern Caribbean; the coastline of Mexico, Belize and Honduras in the Western Caribbean; and the European-flavored islands of the Southern Caribbean. Each offers turquoise waters, soft sand beaches and fun cultural attractions.

The second and third top regions for cruise values are European, both deep water cruises and river cruises. Deep water cruises will take you to great cities on the Mediterranean (Barcelona, Naples, Athens and more); or, the capital cities on the North and Baltic Seas (Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm and beyond). River cruises along the Danube, Rhine and Moselle, to name a few, will take you to wonderful interior cities and towns.

Alaska and the Pacific Northwest, in fourth place, deliver value with some of the most spectacular scenery on earth, abundant wildlife in the water and on shore, and plenty of fun when you step off the ship.

And, in fifth place, trans-Atlantic cruises provide lots of time to relax and enjoy the amenities of the ship, we well as the chance to experience a different culture at each end: for example, sail from Miami to Barcelona, or Southampton (outside of London) to New York.

There are more places – such as Asia and Mexico’s Pacific Coast – that don’t appear in the top five, but also provide excellent value. To discuss all of your options for a high-value 2014 cruise, talk with your Cruise Holidays personal cruise expert.